The buzz in the bedroom: SNORE ROOMS

July 26, 2008|By Carrie Alexander, Special to the sentinel

Bobby Morales had seen other couples afflicted by the problem, and it always played out the same way. Night after night, there were arguments and anger. The dispute never seemed to be resolved -- and someone always ended up sleeping in a guest bedroom or on the sofa.

When the issue reared its sleepy head in Morales' own bedroom, he knew he couldn't fix it by talking things out.

So instead of picking up the phone to call a marriage counselor, Morales picked up a tape measure.

The issue for Morales and his bleary-eyed wife -- just as it is for millions of other couples -- was snoring.

Morales calls it "a universal problem," and polling data backs him up. Sixty-seven percent of American adults are married to, or live with, someone who snores, according to a 2005 survey by the National Sleep Foundation.

That someone, the survey reveals, is most often a man. Not that we're pointing fingers, Mr. Morales.

But take heart, America. Whether you are the groggy, sleep-deprived partner or the guilt-ridden snorer, a trend is emerging in the housing market that might give you some relief: the snoring room.

The concept is simple: Just create within the master suite a separate space equipped with a bed and maybe a chair and nightstand. Soundproof the space and voila! A good night's rest for everyone.

Morales' Apopka firm, Morales-Keesee Design Associates, is designing floor plans with these spaces, which politely are called "hush" rooms. Morales, a residential designer, came up with the idea because his wife, Tami, needed some sleep.

The couple has been married for nearly 15 years, and for the first five, things were fine. The trouble started about 10 years ago, Morales says, when he began to snore. They tried to muddle through just as most couples do. He snored, his wife poked him, and neither got much sleep.

"I woke up with bruises," Morales says.

After a couple of hours of that, he'd wander down the hall to the sofa or guest room.

"I felt like I'd been exiled," Morales says. "I was alone, bitter, saddened about it. Those are the kind of feelings you have. I didn't like being sent off . . . walking down a corridor, sent to a room or a couch. I felt some resentment and yet I knew she needed to get some sleep."

Finally, Morales decided, enough was enough.

"I started doing some sketches," he says.

The couple remodeled their home, carving out a separate room within the master suite that gave him a place to snore in peace.

"This way I feel that I'm not being kicked out," he says. "That was the whole idea. . . . It's a psychological thing -- the fact that you feel like you're not really being kicked out of your own room."

The remodeling division at Morales-Keesee Designs broaches the subject of snoring with their new clients. Morales says sometimes it amuses them -- but it also intrigues plenty of couples.

"Some will laugh," he says. "Others will say 'what do you mean?' We've done two now. When people hear about it, they're excited. I'm not afraid to ask about snoring. It disrupts your life."

In the past, he says, older couples sometimes asked for two master suites.

"That's been the way people have solved that problem [snoring] in the past," he says. But adjoining rooms are better because the couple can still share an intimate space.

Morales says he expects the snoring, er, hush-room concept to gain in popularity as baby boomers age -- and more of them snore.

"I think couples need to be honest about it," he says. "It's something that needs to be discussed."

Nobody likes being kicked out of their own bedroom, Morales says. A soundproofed space within the master suite can help everyone get a good night's sleep, and avoid resentment.